This invention relates to an improved pet chew toy, and more specifically to a chew toy with flavor pockets designed to trap surface flavoring and to improve its adherence as the pet consumes the toy. The present chew toy includes a tough, dried or reformed rawhide, such as pork, bovine, fish, or reptile, that is especially appealing to both dogs and cats. Primary objects of the invention are to exercise the jaws, clean the teeth, and provide some measure of entertainment, which all contribute to the overall good health and longevity of the pet.
Rawhide pet chew toys/treats are well known and popular in the industry. The rawhide is generally processed in sheet form, and subsequently cut into small chips, rolled, twisted, or otherwise shaped as desired. Regardless of the selected shape, the surface texture of the rawhide is basically smooth.
During processing, the fat is typically removed from the rawhide to improve customer acceptance and decrease fat intake of the animal. This leaves a dry, tasteless and generally unappealing treat. In addition, the chemicals used in processing bovine hides can leave residual flavors and bitter tastes that further decrease the appeal to pets. To address this problem, some present commercial treats are basted to add flavor. However, because of their smooth surfaces, the inability to adhere high levels of flavor to the rawhide presents a further problem. When these chew toys are refused by the animal the chewing necessary to maintain healthy teeth and gums along with jaw exercise is substantially diminished.
The present invention addresses these and other problems of existing chew toys by effecting a mechanically-induced physical change in the surface texture of the rawhide. The resulting product is stretched from opposing top and bottom surfaces with shaped rollers or dies to yield a “waffle” texture. The impressions formed in the rawhide define flavor pockets which trap tasty surface flavoring and create additional surface area for flavor coating. The flavor pockets enable accumulation of much more flavor coating than could be applied to a smooth rawhide, and provide better adherence to retain the coating after drying. This added capacity for surface coating further allows the addition of vitamins and nutrients to the chew toy. Moreover, the waffle surface texture creates a thicker product appearance for better customer acceptance.